Bigotry Determined Webster’s New
World Dictionary defines “bigot” as “a person who holds blindly and
intolerantly to a particular creed, opinion, etc.” and “bigotry” as “the
behavior, attitude, or beliefs of a bigot.”

Police State Thomas Kachadurian’s column might get the facts right but misses the story.

Oppose The Shell Game Is this a
Shell Game? As a Democrat, I support increased taxes on motor fuels and
vehicles to provide funding for our transportation infrastructure.

Sugars On The Way Senator Patrick
Colbeck from Canton introduced a bill and the Senate passed it allowing
schools and Girl & Boy Scout troops to have up to 3 bake sales per
week.

Other OpinionsU.S. Rep Bart Stupak
Social Security: don‘t mess with successBy U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI)Social Security is one of the great American success stories, andAugust 14 marked the programs 75th anniversary.On August 14, 1935 President Franklin Roosevelt signed the SocialSecurity Act into law, and since then Social Security has beenproviding our seniors, disabled citizens, children, and widows andwidowers with a guaranteed source of income.

Other OpinionsStephen Tuttle
5 Ways to Improve ElectionsWe can do so much better. It isnt that were about to nominate thewrong candidates, though that is always a distinct possibility. Itsmore that the entire election process could be a lot better with a fewminor improvements. For example:

Other OpinionsStephen Tuttle
Keeping Bad CompanyAll incipient political and social movements give birth to fringeelements unable to control their baser instincts. As the primaryelections draw nigh in several states, those tattered fringes havestarted to move to the front.

Other OpinionsGeorge Foster
Mid-summer sports roundupSay good-bye to international soccer... again. We will check-in afteranother four years, just before the next World Cup. Rats! Many of uswere so-hoping this would be the year Americans caught on to the sportthat the rest of the planet lives for every day.

Other OpinionsStephen Tuttle
Webs of BlatherWere now barely two weeks away from the gubernatorial primaryelection. So, lets review.The Republican race is down to three, maybe four, legitimatecandidates. As this is being written, Attorney General Mike Cox andCongressman Peter Hoekstra are in what amounts to a statistical deadheat. Businessman Rick Snyder is a very close third and OaklandCounty Sheriff Mike Bouchard trails.

Other OpinionsStephen Tuttle
Our WarsMichael Steele, chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC), hasput the Afghanistan war in the headlines again. Mr. Steele, whoapparently believes his job is to make outrageous statements for whichhe must subsequently apologize, said Afghanistan is now wholly BarackObamas war and we have no chance to win, anyway.

Other OpinionsStephen Tuttle
Fourth of July ...We hold these Truths to be self evident, that all Men arecreated equal... So begins the seminal section of our Declaration of Independence,one of the boldest, bravest and most remarkable documents in humanhistory. Thirteen years later an even more startling document, theConstitution of the United States was ratified

Other OpinionsStephen Tuttle
Befuddled and beleaguered BP CEO Tony Hayward had his day beforeCongress. He apologized, he groveled, hed have probably prostratedhimself before the committee members had he thought of it. Ourelected representatives, ever vigilant, were having none of it. Theyblustered and pontificated and bloviated. They were filled to burstingwith self-righteous indignation. Hayward sat and absorbed it all, thedemon being cast out by a nationally televised public exorcism.

Other OpinionsStephen Tuttle
Welcome to the Age of Irrational AbsolutismRepublican voters have an agenda. They expect their candidates to bestrongly anti-abortion, strongly opposed to any kind of legalrecognition of the gay and lesbian community, strong supporters of theSecond Amendment and possessed of some kind of Christian belief systemtheyre willing to inject into the political arena. Their policyrequirements are equally simple  less government and lower taxes.They are not especially picky about specifying just how much lessgovernment they want or how much lower taxes should be but,apparently, theyll know both when they see or hear them. Add to thata growing vitriol about illegal immigration.

Much of the world is once again mad at Israel. When Israeli commandosboarded an aid ship attempting to penetrate the ongoing blockade ofGaza, they encountered club-wielding activists and fought back withgunfire. The result was several injured Israelis and nine deadactivists.

Other OpinionsM.D.
Physicians Against Biomass: Why you should be concernedBy Laura Shea, M.D.As a physician studying the recent environmental health research, I amdeeply concerned over the air pollution that biomass incinerators in ourregion will create.

Other OpinionsStephen Tuttle
The War We Cannot WinThe White House has announced they are going to take a new approach tothe countrys endless battle against drugs and drug use, focusing theirefforts on a public health approach  education and rehabilitation instead of continuing the futility of a criminal justice approach. Maybethis is a good idea given that weve been getting our asses kicked in thehalf century long war on drugs.

Other OpinionsStephen Tuttle
No score at the end of the first quarterAnd were off. The first wave of 2010 elections are over. Depending onwho you listen to, the results were a shocking repudiation of BarackObama or a complete rejection of all incumbents, or the first signs ofa tsunami of conservatism, or the beginning of the tea party era inAmerican politics. Or none of the above.The messages were so mixed its impossible to draw broad conclusionsno matter what the experts say.

Other OpinionsStephen Tuttle
Many of us assumed that oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico had to meetstringent government safety regulations and included layers of fail-safedevices to prevent a massive oil spill. Now we know we were wrong.It is increasingly clear that government oversight of BPs Deep Horizondrilling rig was fatally lax. It is also clear that BP cut corners andsacrificed safety in favor of speed.

Other OpinionsGeorge Foster
This Weeks Biggest LosersAs fans, why are we always shocked when our sports gods prove to be veryhuman? The continual reports of cheating, lying, and ill-manners, not tomention criminal behavior is enough to bring us to the jarring conclusionthat celebrity athletes may not worthy of our worship.